I AM A CHRISTIAN.
I say this about myself all of the time. I gave my heart to the Lord 9 years ago and enjoy a wonderful relationship with my God. But I was thinking today. . . what does that me to OTHER people?
You see, I live in the Bible Belt. I have never in my entire life met someone who doesn’t know who Jesus Christ IS. So I did a little internet search to see what the WORLD thinks a Christian is. So I went to the worldly leader in information, Wikipedia. I will be honest and tell you this is not my favorite site. But for the purposes of my quest today, I wanted to go there.
A Christian (pronounced /ˈkrɪstʃən/ is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who they believe is the Messiah (the Christ in Greek-derived terminology) prophesied in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, and the son of God.[1][2] Most Christians believe in the doctrine of the Trinity ("tri-unity"), a description of God as Father, as Son, and as Holy Spirit.
Really? An Abrahamic, monotheistic religion? You have GOT to be kidding me!!
So they go on to quote a study conducted by Christianity Today.
• 19 percent of American Christians are described by the researchers as Active Christians. They believe salvation comes through Jesus Christ, attend church regularly, are Bible readers, invest in personal faith development through their church, believe they are obligated to share their faith with others, and accept leadership positions in their church.
• 20 percent are referred to as Professing Christians. They also are committed to "accepting Christ as Savior and Lord" as the key to being a Christian, but focus more on personal relationships with God and Jesus than on church, Bible reading or evangelizing.
• 16 percent fall into a category named Liturgical Christians. They are predominantly Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Episcopalian, or Orthodox. They are regular churchgoers, have a high level of spiritual activity and recognize the authority of the church.
• 24 percent are considered Private Christians. They own a Bible but don't tend to read it. Only about one-third attend church at all. They believe in God and in doing good things, but not necessarily within a church context. This was the largest and youngest segment. Almost none are church leaders.
• 21 percent in the research are called Cultural Christians. These do not view Jesus as essential to salvation. They exhibit little outward religious behavior or attitudes. They favor a universality theology that sees many ways to God. Yet, they clearly consider themselves to be Christians.
So, under these definitions, what am I? I guess I would be called an “Active Christian.” Yeah, that sounds good.
But what does that MEAN? WHO am I? WHAT am I? What is my LIFE like?
Oh, I desperately hope that everyone who knows me KNOWS that I am a Christian. It is such a part of my life; I can’t imagine someone not knowing that about me. But do I need one of those Jesus fish things on my car to let everyone know? Oh, I hope not.
You see, I want people to look at me and just KNOW. I want them to look at how I lead my life and by the things I do and the things I say that I love my Jesus. Yes, they can see me at church every Sunday. Yes, they can see that the pages of my Bible are well used and filled with notes and that my favorite verses are underlined. But can they tell by my HEART that I am a Christian, by how I love others? (John 13:5)
I pray that they do.
.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Responsibillery
I have been thinking a lot about responsibility, or, as Miss Mc used to call it, responsibllery.
WARNING: This is me, getting up on my soapbox!!
Why IS it that people today, of all ages, can’t be responsible?
James 5:12 tells us to let our yes be yes and our no, no. Galatians 6:4-5 says: Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load. Proverbs 19:1 says, “Better to be poor and honest than to be dishonest and a fool.” (I could go on with Scripture references, but rest assured, I won’t!)
So I think we can safely assume that most people understand that we are called to be responsible. So why aren’t people more responsible? I know that a lot of people like to complain that it is our teenagers who are not responsible. And I’ll wholeheartedly agree. But there are many people of other ages who are not either. Our prisons are full of people who aren’t responsible. Our government’s welfare, food stamp, and disability programs are FILLED with people who are not being honest and responsible. What about all the lawsuits out there? Or the bankruptcies? And what about big business? Or CONGRESS? (Again, I’ll not go on and on here.)
So are these people who are NOT responsible genetically predisposed to this? Or is this a learned response? The whole nature vs. nurture thing. Is there anything you can do to CHANGE an irresponsible person?
Hmmm. . .
I don’t really know the answer to this. And I’m sure we all have our different opinions on it. I’m just wondering. . . .
.
WARNING: This is me, getting up on my soapbox!!
Why IS it that people today, of all ages, can’t be responsible?
James 5:12 tells us to let our yes be yes and our no, no. Galatians 6:4-5 says: Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load. Proverbs 19:1 says, “Better to be poor and honest than to be dishonest and a fool.” (I could go on with Scripture references, but rest assured, I won’t!)
So I think we can safely assume that most people understand that we are called to be responsible. So why aren’t people more responsible? I know that a lot of people like to complain that it is our teenagers who are not responsible. And I’ll wholeheartedly agree. But there are many people of other ages who are not either. Our prisons are full of people who aren’t responsible. Our government’s welfare, food stamp, and disability programs are FILLED with people who are not being honest and responsible. What about all the lawsuits out there? Or the bankruptcies? And what about big business? Or CONGRESS? (Again, I’ll not go on and on here.)
So are these people who are NOT responsible genetically predisposed to this? Or is this a learned response? The whole nature vs. nurture thing. Is there anything you can do to CHANGE an irresponsible person?
Hmmm. . .
I don’t really know the answer to this. And I’m sure we all have our different opinions on it. I’m just wondering. . . .
.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Good enough
Today, I went to a “lunch and learn” thing at work on stress.
The speaker is a wonderful man of God (who also happens to be a counselor), and he also is the dad of a special needs child. So I would imagine he knows a LOT about stress!!
The highlights of the talk were that it’s important to find balance in your life, be resilient, and learn how to have hard conversations. I won’t bore you with the details of the program, but there were a couple of things that stood out to me, and so I thought I’d share them.
He had us do an exercise where he gave us a calendar that covered an entire week, from 6 AM to midnight. We were supposed to list all the “roles” we play in life, such as wife, mother, employee, Christian, etc and then fill in the times on the calendar that we DO these things. It is a GREAT tool in forcing you to look at WHERE you spend your time. And we were also supposed to realize “Who takes care of me?” and to make ourSELVES a priority in our own lives.
But when he got to the part about having hard conversations, it REALLY hit home for me. We ALL have to have hard conversations as we go through life, whether it’s a problem client at work, a “moment” with your kids, or a “discussion” with your spouse. We all have them; and some of us have them more often than others!
He talked a lot about our body’s “fight or flight” response. For me, when I start to have one of these hard conversations, my heart rate speeds up, my breathing gets faster, and my face becomes red. These are just biological phenomenas that happen without any thought behind it. BUT what we DO with this response IS our choice. We can “go with it” which causes us to “run” or to “defend” ourselves. But really, when either of these two things happen, our little brains are deprived of oxygen, and we just stop THINKING. So the next time this happens to me, I am going to try to calm myself and take deep, slow breaths. We’ll see how this works.
But then he tells us this: We have “agreement” on about 90% of things with the person we have having this hard conversation with.
Really? I’m ARGUING with this person.
But then I got to thinking about it. If it’s a client you’re dealing with, chances are you BOTH want the issue to be resolved. If it’s your kids, chances are you BOTH want to get to the bottom of it.
And what about your spouse? Oh, that’s the good one. Chances are you really probably DO have many of the same values and goals for life. Why would you marry someone who DIDN’T share these things with you? (For the sake of this post, I’m not going to address the people who are in marriages they shouldn’t be in.) You probably have children that you BOTH love and want protected. You probably BOTH have the same faith background. You probably BOTH really want your marriage to work. (I could go on and on, but I don’t want to stress you out by making this too long!)
So if we assume that this counselor is right and you really do have agreement on about 90% of things:
Oh, man.
Don’t you just love conviction?! I just love it when my God takes the time out of His busy day to speak a Word to me. To give me a little knock on the head. To let me know He is listening to me. But maybe, just maybe, I need to look at some things differently.
So WHY do I look at the little 10% of the glass that’s empty, instead of seeing the 90% that is FULL?
Isn’t that good enough?
.
The speaker is a wonderful man of God (who also happens to be a counselor), and he also is the dad of a special needs child. So I would imagine he knows a LOT about stress!!
The highlights of the talk were that it’s important to find balance in your life, be resilient, and learn how to have hard conversations. I won’t bore you with the details of the program, but there were a couple of things that stood out to me, and so I thought I’d share them.
He had us do an exercise where he gave us a calendar that covered an entire week, from 6 AM to midnight. We were supposed to list all the “roles” we play in life, such as wife, mother, employee, Christian, etc and then fill in the times on the calendar that we DO these things. It is a GREAT tool in forcing you to look at WHERE you spend your time. And we were also supposed to realize “Who takes care of me?” and to make ourSELVES a priority in our own lives.
But when he got to the part about having hard conversations, it REALLY hit home for me. We ALL have to have hard conversations as we go through life, whether it’s a problem client at work, a “moment” with your kids, or a “discussion” with your spouse. We all have them; and some of us have them more often than others!
He talked a lot about our body’s “fight or flight” response. For me, when I start to have one of these hard conversations, my heart rate speeds up, my breathing gets faster, and my face becomes red. These are just biological phenomenas that happen without any thought behind it. BUT what we DO with this response IS our choice. We can “go with it” which causes us to “run” or to “defend” ourselves. But really, when either of these two things happen, our little brains are deprived of oxygen, and we just stop THINKING. So the next time this happens to me, I am going to try to calm myself and take deep, slow breaths. We’ll see how this works.
But then he tells us this: We have “agreement” on about 90% of things with the person we have having this hard conversation with.
Really? I’m ARGUING with this person.
But then I got to thinking about it. If it’s a client you’re dealing with, chances are you BOTH want the issue to be resolved. If it’s your kids, chances are you BOTH want to get to the bottom of it.
And what about your spouse? Oh, that’s the good one. Chances are you really probably DO have many of the same values and goals for life. Why would you marry someone who DIDN’T share these things with you? (For the sake of this post, I’m not going to address the people who are in marriages they shouldn’t be in.) You probably have children that you BOTH love and want protected. You probably BOTH have the same faith background. You probably BOTH really want your marriage to work. (I could go on and on, but I don’t want to stress you out by making this too long!)
So if we assume that this counselor is right and you really do have agreement on about 90% of things:
ISN’T THAT GOOD ENOUGH TO CONSIDER THIS A POSITVE RELATIONSHIP?
Oh, man.
Don’t you just love conviction?! I just love it when my God takes the time out of His busy day to speak a Word to me. To give me a little knock on the head. To let me know He is listening to me. But maybe, just maybe, I need to look at some things differently.
Isn’t that good enough?
.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Nurse's Day
Happy National Nurse’s Day
There are nearly 3.1 million registered nurses in the United States. And, 2.4 million of them are actively employed. (So. . . I’m thinking that really, nurses really don’t ever get to stop working!!!)
The nation's registered nurse workforce is aging significantly. . . . (Yeah, I’m old. Rub it in.)
Yesterday, I was thinking about the fact that I am a nurse. I have been one of the blessed to know, almost since birth, what I wanted to be in life. When I hear people talk about not knowing what they want to be when they grow up, it seems very strange to me. God just MADE me a nurse. My Mom tells the story of when I was a little girl (around 4 or 5 probably), I had a Mrs. Beasley doll. (Here is a picture for you youngins’!)
You may not be able to tell, but the body of the doll is made of cloth. The story is that MY doll got a rip in the fabric, somewhere around the chest. My Mom says that I got a giant safety pin and fixed it up and told everyone that she had had open heart surgery and I was her nurse. (How I even KNEW about open heart surgery at this age is a mystery to me.) So when I think back on my life as a nurse, I think that God must have placed this desire in my heart at a very, very early age.
When I was 15, instead of working at the pool or the local restaurant, I worked night shifts as a nurse’s aide, taking vital signs and giving baths. I remember having to talk my parents into letting me work. (Too bad kids today can’t get this concept!) I had graduated from nursing school the first time at age 19, as an LPN. So while my friends my age were still in college, partying and staying out late, I was working. I went back to school 3 years later and became an RN.
Other than the birth of my daughters, I can’t think of ANYTHING I have done in my life that I am more proud of. I can remember when I got off the plane, coming back from Topeka from taking my RN boards, and there was my sweet Momma, holding up at T-shirt that said “RN stands for Real Nice.” I just burst into tears! This was something that I had wanted literally my whole life. And for her to acknowledge me that way was just AMAZING! (And yes, I still have that shirt somewhere!)
I have worked in many different areas of nursing, but I’m most proud of my time as an operating room scrub nurse, a trauma nurse and as a Labor & Delivery nurse. I was actually a very, very good nurse. And this is not bragging on my part. It really isn’t. GOD made me this way. HE gave me the ability to learn and to have compassion for people. HE is the giver of all good things, and I am so thankful that He chose to give this to me.
I think that TRUE nurses are an endangered breed. New nurses seem to be in it for the money. Or they pick nursing because it’s a fairly short degree program. The nurses who really, truly MEAN it when they say they want to be a nurse, the people who really CARE about their patients, are not so common anymore.
I am no longer able to work as a “real” nurse, as I often say. I have a desk job now, and I am only able to talk to people on the phone, teaching them about diabetes or high blood pressure or cholesterol. My health has deteriorated to the point where I can’t work on my feet anymore, a death sentence for a nurse. And I’ve come to realize how much of my IDENTITY and my self-worth are tied up in this. I guess I have just another couple of years in me before they put me out to pasture. (Where DO old nurses go anyway?)
If you have gotten to this point, thanks for listening to the ramblings of an old nurse! I appreciate it! I found a poem that I like and have put it below. I hope that you will take a look around you, as you go through life, and take time to say “thank you” to all the nurses that you come into contact with.
There are nearly 3.1 million registered nurses in the United States. And, 2.4 million of them are actively employed. (So. . . I’m thinking that really, nurses really don’t ever get to stop working!!!)
The nation's registered nurse workforce is aging significantly. . . . (Yeah, I’m old. Rub it in.)
Yesterday, I was thinking about the fact that I am a nurse. I have been one of the blessed to know, almost since birth, what I wanted to be in life. When I hear people talk about not knowing what they want to be when they grow up, it seems very strange to me. God just MADE me a nurse. My Mom tells the story of when I was a little girl (around 4 or 5 probably), I had a Mrs. Beasley doll. (Here is a picture for you youngins’!)
(I am sure my daughter will think she is creepy.)
You may not be able to tell, but the body of the doll is made of cloth. The story is that MY doll got a rip in the fabric, somewhere around the chest. My Mom says that I got a giant safety pin and fixed it up and told everyone that she had had open heart surgery and I was her nurse. (How I even KNEW about open heart surgery at this age is a mystery to me.) So when I think back on my life as a nurse, I think that God must have placed this desire in my heart at a very, very early age.
When I was 15, instead of working at the pool or the local restaurant, I worked night shifts as a nurse’s aide, taking vital signs and giving baths. I remember having to talk my parents into letting me work. (Too bad kids today can’t get this concept!) I had graduated from nursing school the first time at age 19, as an LPN. So while my friends my age were still in college, partying and staying out late, I was working. I went back to school 3 years later and became an RN.
Other than the birth of my daughters, I can’t think of ANYTHING I have done in my life that I am more proud of. I can remember when I got off the plane, coming back from Topeka from taking my RN boards, and there was my sweet Momma, holding up at T-shirt that said “RN stands for Real Nice.” I just burst into tears! This was something that I had wanted literally my whole life. And for her to acknowledge me that way was just AMAZING! (And yes, I still have that shirt somewhere!)
I have worked in many different areas of nursing, but I’m most proud of my time as an operating room scrub nurse, a trauma nurse and as a Labor & Delivery nurse. I was actually a very, very good nurse. And this is not bragging on my part. It really isn’t. GOD made me this way. HE gave me the ability to learn and to have compassion for people. HE is the giver of all good things, and I am so thankful that He chose to give this to me.
I think that TRUE nurses are an endangered breed. New nurses seem to be in it for the money. Or they pick nursing because it’s a fairly short degree program. The nurses who really, truly MEAN it when they say they want to be a nurse, the people who really CARE about their patients, are not so common anymore.
I am no longer able to work as a “real” nurse, as I often say. I have a desk job now, and I am only able to talk to people on the phone, teaching them about diabetes or high blood pressure or cholesterol. My health has deteriorated to the point where I can’t work on my feet anymore, a death sentence for a nurse. And I’ve come to realize how much of my IDENTITY and my self-worth are tied up in this. I guess I have just another couple of years in me before they put me out to pasture. (Where DO old nurses go anyway?)
If you have gotten to this point, thanks for listening to the ramblings of an old nurse! I appreciate it! I found a poem that I like and have put it below. I hope that you will take a look around you, as you go through life, and take time to say “thank you” to all the nurses that you come into contact with.
The Proverbs 31 Nurse
By Lois Sigmon Turley, RN
Who can find a good natured Nurse?
For her price is far above silver and gold.
She seeks medicines and skills,
and works willingly with others.
She gives of herself
and considers her own desires last.
A heartwarming smile is hers,
and is made beautiful in her eyes.
She girds herself with honor
and strengthens her ability with patience.
She perceives that her work is good.
Her candle does not go out by night.
She lays her hands upon understanding.
She stretches out her hand to the poor;
yet, she reaches forth hands to the needy.
She is not afraid of sorrow,
for her trust is in God.
Pride and humility are her clothing,
and she shall rejoice in time to come.
She opens her mouth with comfort,
and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
Her associates rise up and call her blessed;
her patients also praise her kindness.
Many daughters have helped others,
but you excel them all.
Favor is deceitful,
and beauty is vain.
But a Nurse that
fears the Lord --
She shall be praised!
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